Panthers Add Help for Playoff Push, Prospects at Trade Deadline

The Florida Panthers kicked off the NHL's trade deadline with a big splash to shake up the team's roster.
Acquiring pieces to aid the franchise for both the present and the future, the Panthers acquired forwards Erik Haula and Lucas Wallmark, as well as a pair of prospects in defenseman Chase Priskie and forward Eetu Luostarinen, from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for center Vincent Trocheck on Monday morning.

"We decided that this was the right path to add more depth to our organization all the way through, with the big club and the minor-league team," Panthers President of Hockey Operations & General Manger Dale Tallon said Monday afternoon in a teleconference. "It was a consensus from all of us that this was a fair deal and it was something that we felt we should do not only for the present but for the future."
First, let's take a look at the immediate help that Florida received in the trade.
In acquiring Haula and Wallmark, the Panthers picked up two forwards with plenty of playoff experience to help bolster their late-season push into the postseason. With 20 games left to play, they are currently two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division with a game in hand.
Between the two newest Panthers, 59 games of playoff experience have been added to the lineup.
"They have versatility and the ability to play in all situations," Tallon said. "They're both smart players… It gives [Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville] more options all the way through the lineup."
Of the two, Haula has the most-established NHL career to date.
A versatile skater that can slot in either on the wing or at center, the 28-year-old veteran has posted 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in 41 games this season. Prior to being bitten by the injury bug, he broke out during the 2017-18 campaign with Vegas, reaching career-highs in goals (29), assists (26) and points (55).
Joining the Golden Knights via the expansion draft, Haula, who was shipped from Vegas to Carolina this past summer, was fan-favorite during the team's inaugural season in the desert. An integral part of the team's wild run to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, he notched three goals and six assists in 20 playoff games.
"Haula gives us some more speed and experience," Tallon said.
Wallmark, meanwhile, is just starting to really come into his own.
A fourth-round pick (97th overall) of the Hurricanes in the 2014 draft, the 24-year-old is in the midst of his second full season in the NHL. In 60 games, he's already set a new career-high in goals (11) and, with 23 points, has a good chance to surpass the career-best 28 points he recorded in 81 games in 2018-19.
Like Haula, Wallmark also had a long playoff run under his belt. As a rookie, he registered five points (one goal, five assists) in 15 playoff games to help Carolina reach the 2019 Eastern Conference Final.
"They're really hard-working guys," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said of his new teammates, Haula and Wallmark. "They have skill. Obviously they're both centermen, so I've seen them both many times, taking faceoffs against them. They're really tough guys to play against."
As for the two prospects the Panthers received in the deal, both look to have bright futures.
After spending the previous three seasons competing with KalPa Kuopio in Liiga -- the top professional league in his native Finland -- Luostarinen has made a smooth transition to North America this season. In 44 games with AHL Charlotte, the 21-year-old center had accumulated 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists).
Selected in the second round (42nd overall) in the 2017 draft, Luostarinen made his NHL debut on Nov. 7 and went on to record one assist in an eight-game stint with Carolina before being returned to the AHL.
At the 2019 IIHF World Championship, he helped Finland capture its first goal medal since 2011.
"We got a big centerman," Tallon said of Luostarinen, who measures up at 6-foot-3 and 184 pounds.
For Priskie, being traded to Florida likely felt like a dream come true.
Growing up in nearby Pembroke Pines, the 23-year-old defenseman is a lifelong fan of the franchise and tweeted a picture of himself as a kid decked out in Panthers gear shortly after the trade was announced.
"It's crazy how some things come full circle in life," he wrote from his account, @priskie4. "Extremely excited to join the @FlaPanthers and return to my hometown. Talk about following your dreams."

But, aside from being a good story, he's also one heck of a player.
A highly-coveted free agent coming out of college, Priskie joined the Hurricanes this past summer after spending four seasons at Quinnipiac University. A top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in 2018-19, he ranked first in goals (17) and fifth in points (39) among Division I blueliners during his senior season.
In 52 games with AHL Charlotte this season, he recorded 31 points (six goals, 25 assists).
"It's about time," Tallon said of acquiring an exceptional Florida-born talent. "It's good. We tried to sign him last year when he was a free agent coming out of college… I think he's excited about his opportunity and his future, and so are we. I think it's great. I'd like to have more of those kids play for us."
After the dust had settled following their early-morning megadeal, the Panthers completed one smaller one-for-one trade later in the afternoon, sending a sixth-round pick in the 2020 draft (a selection that originally belonged to the Buffalo Sabres) to the Dallas Stars in exchange for defenseman Emil Djuse.
After going undrafted, Djuse signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Stars this past summer following a successful five-season stint in the SHL -- the top professional circuit in his native Sweden. In his final tour with Skelleftea AIK in 2018-19, he had a career-high 22 points while playing top-pairing minutes.
A left-shot defenseman, Djuse, who stands 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, has shown a lot of promise during his first season in North America. In 48 games with AHL Texas, he had 29 points (four goals, 25 assists).
"He's got good skill, good mobility, and he's a good call-up player," Tallon said.
Filling up the team's pipeline, Luostarinen, Priske and Djuse are all expected to report to AHL Springfield.
"Those guys add to a deep, young talent pool with [Owen] Tippett, [Henrik] Borgstrom, [Aleksi] Heponiemi, [Grigori] Denisenko and [Serron] Noel," Tallon said. "All these kids we have in the pipeline, they just keep making us deeper and more balanced as far as our depth chart is concerned."
Following today's moves, the Panthers will now turn their focus back to the playoff push at hand.
"We felt that we're still there and if we made the right moves today to make our team stronger with a little more experience and depth, that this will give us a good opportunity to see what we're made of," Tallon said. "These 20 games are crucial for us, we know that. It's a busy schedule, a tough schedule, and we want to get in [the playoffs]. That's what the message is."